By Pratyush Rawal MPA 2024 and Armughan Syed MPA 2024

Pratyush Rawal MPA 2024 and Armughan Syed MPA 2024 joined the Candid and Construction Conversations (CCC) initiative as research assistants during their time as students at HKS. Now as alumni, they are continuing to create safe, structured spaces where HKS students, staff, and faculty can engage in meaningful dialogue on challenging topics.
As leaders of the initiative, their goal is to foster an environment where people across our community can share openly, listen deeply, and learn from one another’s perspectives. In the post below, Pratyush and Armughan share more about the initiative and their hopes for the future.
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How CCC Began
The idea for CCC emerged from a desire within our community to thoughtfully engage on difficult issues. Former Dean Doug Elmendorf formed a team led by Professor Erica Chenoweth to explore how freely students, staff, and faculty felt they could discuss contentious topics. Following an in-depth survey and subsequent report, the recommendation was made to establish CCC as a dedicated initiative to teach constructive disagreement skills and promote spaces for open dialogue and mutual understanding. Professor Chenoweth now leads the initiative.
Both of us were involved as student leaders, co-chairing the Engaging Across Differences Caucus and working on several bridging efforts, which led to us joining CCC as research assistants. We believe that engaging in conversations about what matters—without needing everyone to agree—is essential for fostering empathy, curiosity, and stronger connections across HKS.
Events So Far—and What’s Coming Next
Since launching, CCC has hosted a series of events, known as CCC Clinics, that aim to provide a welcoming environment for discussing big questions. In Fall 2024, we introduced two main types of events: Agree to Eat and Dialogue Circles.
- Agree to Eat: These community-building events are designed to facilitate one-on-one conversations over meals, where participants are paired and guided by questions provided by the facilitators.
- Dialogue Circles: In these closed-door group discussions, participants tackle a divisive issue in a structured format, with 15 participants and 1-2 facilitators following a guide that includes introductions, discussion, conclusion, and reflection.
This fall, we hosted three Dialogue Circles and three Agree to Eat events. While Agree to Eat events focused on deep personal questions, Dialogue Circles explored topics like religion, war, and elections.
Looking ahead to Spring 2025, we’re planning more frequent CCC Clinics on timely social issues and personal identity topics that resonate with our community. Our goal is to continue offering themes that feel close to people’s lives, creating space for introspection and growth.

“We believe that engaging in conversations about what matters—without needing everyone to agree—is essential for fostering empathy, curiosity, and stronger connections across HKS.”
Our Vision for CCC
In the long term, we envision CCC as an enduring part of the HKS experience—a place where people bring their full selves to conversations that matter, equipped with skills for engaging in difficult conversations. We hope CCC continues to create spaces where challenging topics are met with openness and curiosity, rather than judgment.
At its heart, CCC is about building a culture of empathy, understanding, and constructive engagement at HKS. We also hope CCC inspires facilitators and leaders who can guide society through polarization and division. We want this initiative to be a movement that lives on through each participant who leaves inspired to bring more dialogue into their daily lives.
Why CCC is Important for the HKS Community
For all of our CCC events, it is important to come with an open mind and a willingness to listen. These sessions are for everyone in HKS community—staff, students, faculty and even alumni. Many attendees have shared that even just listening to others’ experiences was impactful and sometimes transformative. These conversations are a wonderful way to broaden perspectives and connect with the HKS community on a deeper level.
A Note to Prospective Students: Join a Culture of Constructive Conversations
For those considering HKS, CCC is part of our mission to make constructive conversations a core part of the HKS experience. Here, dialogue isn’t just an event—it’s a mindset that influences our community interactions in classrooms, events, and beyond.
If you join the HKS community, you’ll have opportunities to engage across differences, explore your values, and build skills for leading in a complex world. We’re creating a culture of empathy, curiosity, and collaboration, and we’d love for you to be part of it.
Looking forward to welcoming you to CCC—and to HKS!
Winston Tang